One thing you don’t not normally see being talked about, for those who are trying to lose weight, is the fact that your body’s weight loss will slow down or eventually stop at some point. That might happen soon after you start trying to lose weight or way down the road. There’s so many factors that come into play with plateaus that it’s impossible for me to tell you why it’s happened to you but you should know that its completely natural and if you still have more weight to lose there’s ways to kick start things.
If a person experiences a weight loss plateau, it means that it’s time to change something. I like to look at things scientifically. I start a person off on a certain workout routine/diet plan and track progress. When their fat loss starts slowing down I start changing one thing at a time until we figure out what it is that works. That way we don’t go meddling with so many variables that it becomes impossible to know what did what. Usually it’s the diet that needs to be changes unless you’re over training (which I find that many people do and it WILL stop your fat loss in its tracks). Here are some things to consider if you’ve hit a snag.
Why am I not losing weight? reason 1: You are eating too few calories.
It may sound confusing if this is one of the reasons why you have stopped losing weight. But it is true that in order for the body to burn calories, there must first be calories that it can burn. And only two things fuel your metabolism (yea that thing that actually helps you lose the weight). Calories (food) and exercise.When you cut your calories too low, your body’s natural response will be to slow down its metabolic processes. its a natural survival instinct of the body. To solve this, you must never cut too many calories from your diet. Measure your calorie intake so that it is leveled only slightly below your caloric maintenance levels.
Why am I not losing weight reason 2: You are losing lean mass.
Your goal may or may not be to build muscle but if you haven’t already you should consider adding in some strength training to your workouts. If your body loses muscle (which is inevitable if you’re losing weight and not strength training), it will also burn fewer calories as muscle weight costs more (metabolically) to maintain than fat. Added muscle weight also helps you burn more calories at rest. In order to gain muscle, you should be doing some form of strength training and getting in adequate levels of protein. A great way to get started is to check out this workout.
Why am I not losing weight reason 3: You are exercising too much.
Exercise is essential to losing weight. In fact you won’t make it past a certain point without it. But having a balanced diet and exercise routine is more important than anything else. Keyword “balanced”. One reason why you might not be losing weight is because you are over training. Over training causes the release of the stress hormone cortisol which in turn slows down your fat loss process dramatically. Any kind of stressors can do this to you including, anxiety, lack of sleep, over training, working long shifts or just about anything that puts abnormal amounts of stress on your body. The only way to know for sure if your cortisol levels are too high is to get a blood test done by a doctor. But either way it’s best to try to maintain a stress free lifestyle. Take a second and breathe a little.
Why am I not losing weight reason 4: You are not sleeping enough.
As I said earlier sleep can make or break your weight loss efforts. One reason being that when you’re asleep, your body secretes the majority of the growth hormone that it will secrete for the day. Human growth hormone is one of the most potent fat burning hormones our body produces so you want to use it to your best advantage. Top that off with the fact that lack of sleep causes increased cortisol levels and it’s easy to see why lack of sleep can ruin your progress. It’ll greatly help your cause if you try to aim for seven to eight hours of sleep every night. Besides all of that it just plain feels better when you’re well rested
So there you have it. A few quick things to check off your list if you think you might have hit a weight loss plateau.
